I think I've asked this question before, but I'd like to ask it again.

What keeps you from totally cracking and heading off in a straight jacket?For me, its the fear of losing my permit to carry (I feel like I need to have this in the town I live in for personal protection, ) and my fur~babies.

Honest answer is because I am determined not to be ever beating by such a condition. It may knock me down. But I have always got back up and pushed on forward. Never was a quitter in life. Don't intend to begin now.

Mindfulness. I started reading into mindfulness back in the summer when things started piling up. Reminding myself that no matter how bad I might be feeling during "This" particular spell, it will pass. How I feel today doesn't have to dictate how I feel tomorrow. And having excellent support in my life has helped too.

What keeps me from totally losing it is knowing that I never will. I have been through so many things in my life, things that should have made me crumble, bad things, very stressful things, but I'm still here. Sure all those experiences changed me--for the better, I'm much, much wiser than I ever was---and stronger than ever :)

Thank you everyone for your replies! I wish I had the support that some of you folks have. I really don't have anyone in my life that I can call "support". My husband has panic disorder and depression, so I feel like I can't pile any more crap on him. I did start seeing an therapist... but then he lost his job and there goes our insurance.

I often wondered if I would ever really "crack" since I never had before. The thing that drives me the most crazy is that I worry about important stuff and then I worry about dumb stuff. I realize some of the things I worry about are dumb and stupid (I can recognize that) but that doesn't stop me in any way from worrying about them.

For example, I feel on my knee and twisted my back last thursday at work. So, I went to the workman's comp dr. She has me off until she sees me tomorrow. A week and a half ago I put in a request off at work for Wednesday because I want to see a certain doctor before we lose our insurance. (Feb 8 is the last day). So, I am bound and determined to see this doctor on wednesday. I work in a physical environment, food service, and I truly don't feel like my body and my knee are ready to go back to work yet. I am going to take my husband along as support on that stance. So, out of all the crap I am worrying about at the moment, its whether she will make me go back to work after the follow up visit tomorrow. *I hope that came out the way I wanted it to*

I know it is silly for me to worry over this. Hubby says he sees no reason why, if I don't feel much better than I did on thurs. past, that she will put me back to work. Hubby says if all else fails, quit the job. They threw a fit and got nasty when I fell because it was an inconvenience to them. And I'm only getting 10 hours a week anyway. So I have spent the past two days worrying over something silly rather than the important things I need to be worrying about right now.